NEWCASTLE United face “disaster” should they fail to win promotion from their current position, says Jose Enrique. But the Spaniard believes they have the answer – and are making a meal of it. No longer the disparate group of players who surrendered Premier League status last season, the Magpies now boast team spirit and togetherness which has taken them to the top of the Championship. And the proof is in the eating. Previously, squad-wide socialising was limited to the bare minimum but last month, at the behest of senior players, the first-team staff and their families dined out together. To Enrique this was the norm at his previous clubs, but a novelty in three years on Tyneside. And while it may seem inconsequential, the Spanish defender insists otherwise, claiming the club’s newfound off-field camaraderie has spawned a united front on the pitch. As such, mistakes are forgiven. But failure to turn their present standing into promotion – automatic or otherwise – will not be. Nor, to Enrique, will it be comprehensible. “It would be a disaster for us not to get into the Premier League now from the position we are in,” said Enrique, whose team-mates Alan Smith and Kevin Nolan are the subjects of renewed speculation linking the pair with interest from Birmingham City. “We are playing well so I would not be able to understand how we wouldn’t have got into the Premier League from this position. It’s good we are up there. Everyone wants us to win the league and it is good we’re in this position but the most important thing is to finish in the top two and get back up. That is most important. “Would it be a disaster to be in the play-offs? No, because you still have the chance to the get promoted but it is more important we stay in the top two positions. If we go up automatically the fans are happier and more relaxed.” As seem the players, and Enrique believes the underlying reason behind their new sense of contented union lies in the team spirit in part engendered on that trip to a local restaurant. “The spirit is unbelievable, the team is doing well in the table and getting wins so the atmosphere is great,” he added. “Everyone feels like they are together. You can see that on the pitch and in games. “It is important to have that good spirit. When I was at Villarreal, it was the same thing and we qualified for the Uefa Cup. It is the one thing that has been the same in all the teams that I have played in that have done well – team spirit. “I think this season the team spirit is much better than last year. I don’t know why, but it definitely is. We have seen that in the games and in the way the team is doing so well. | 
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